Olden Oasis

Planting sweet potatoes We are nearing the end of April, the perfect time to plant sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas) are a root vegetable that's native to Central and South America. They thrive in the heat and humidity because they are tropical plants. In actuality, sweet potatoes are not part of the potato family. They are part of the morning glory. The part of a sweet potato plant that we harvest is a tuberous root. There are several different varieties of sweet potatoes that you can grow, but today I will be planting Centennial sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes don’t start from a seed like the majority of other vegetables do. Instead, they grow from what are referred to as “slips." Slips are the green shoots that sprout from the tops of a sweet potato.  Planting your sweet potatoes to grow slips You can place a sweet potato in a glass or jar of water or lay it directly in a container of dirt (as I am doing here today). I prefer starting my sweet potatoes directly...